The Survival of an Inferior

The trip to Chael is set to be in 2 days. For now, a more pressing issue stands: I want to change my "class".

The reason I haven't equipped my title yet is to acquire another title. The condition of my desired title is to have no title and once I equip a title, I can only switch it but can't remove it. 

I walk around the mansion in the morning and search for Amelie. She is in the dining room setting the table. "Young master! Good morning," says Amelie. 

"Hello, Amelie. Do you know anyone that knows how to use firearms?" I ask.

Amelie wipes the table and folds the cloth. "Old man Jerry do. He used to be a soldier guarding the borders of Elvis."

The gardener Jerry was a soldier?

I thank Amelie. A beautiful indoor garden is erected at the back of the mansion. Over there, an old man wearing a red apron and white t-shirt is seen pulling weeds around the flowers. 

I walk to him and say "Hello, are you Jerry?" 

?

He looks up and his face stiffens.

"What is it, young master? A rare sight for you to be here." Jerry says.

"I heard from Amelie that you were a soldier. I want to learn how to use firearms from you. If you wish, I can even pay you." I say.

Jerry dismiss my request, saying "If you want to kill time, there are better ways. Do not bother me."

"It's for survival." 

"There are swordsmanship and magic." 

...

I look around and walk to see a small shed in the corner. Within the shed are tools for gardening and gloves. I put on the gloves and help Jerry out with the gardening to show my sincerity. 

Jerry throws one glance at me but says nothing and probably thinking that I will leave soon.

However, albeit with inept handling, I still helped with spreading the fertilisers evenly around the large garden. 

Jerry sighs and asks "Why do you want to use firearms? There are clearly better routes you can go."

"I need to be versatile and strong against flying monsters," I reply.

Jerry drops the shears. "You are planning to join the frontlines?!" He exclaims.

"It's imminent death here or at the frontlines. At the very least, I want to fight back." I say.

Jerry's expression becomes grim. He takes off his gloves and keeps every piece of equipment back in the shed. I help him. 

"Follow me," Jerry says. 

After wearing a fur coat, Jerry guides me to his cabin near the mansion. Behind his cabin is a mountain forest. He grabs a musket inside his home and guides me to an open spot in the forest with some tree stumps scattered. There are stacks of wood laid at the edge, jerry takes one and places it on a stump. He takes 10 steps away from it and holds up the musket to his face, his left hand supporting the musket below and his right hand bent while parallel to the ground gripping area near the stock.

"This is how you hold the weapon," Jerry says. Afterwards, He inserts a blue crystal into the cartridge. The musket starts glowing and Jerry brings it up to his face again. After taking a deep breath, Jerry pulls the trigger.

*BAM!*

A shot of reckoning rips through the atmosphere, piercing through the wood and several other trees behind. One can see the path of the "bullet" as particles of mana still linger in the air. 

The mechanism in the musket is similar to the traditional flintlock mechanism. Several acceleration magic scrolls are implemented within the rifle. By inserting a mana stone into the cartridge, the user supplies mana to the scrolls and it instantly creates high momentum. 

However, one major difference is the fire rate. The traditional musket in my original world takes a rather long time to reload one ammo into the rifle but the musket in this world has a "magazine" of ammo: the mana from the mana stone. 

By shooting out mana-infused air, it can be as deadly as an armour-piercing bullet. 

This is why I want to switch to firearms. They are not dependent on my attack stats, only dependent on the amount of mana supplied. The higher the concentration of mana within the mana stone, the stronger the power of the bullet. 

In addition, mana stones are easy to find on the battlefield. They are essentially the "energy cores" of beasts. Kill one beast and you can get another mana stone from its body, although mining for mana stones is also an option. 

Jerry passes the musket to me. I take it and get into the position I saw, Jerry corrects my posture.

He puts up another piece of wood on the tree stump.

"Relax your elbow and firmly grip the weapon. The first step to shooting a firearm is to manage the recoil. Try shooting that wood." says Jerry.

...

*BAM!* 

The musket ejects back into my body but Jerry's help on my stance mitigated the pain. However, I missed the wood.

"The farther your enemy is, the harder it is to hit them. Even a small movement of your muzzle will result in a large proportional angle," says Jerry.

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You have learnt how to use a firearm. 

+1 Firearm Mastery 

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New classes are available!

-Marksman 

-Hunter 

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"For now, I will leave a bag of mana stones here. You can practise at your own pace, I will come back to check on young master later," says Jerry and he left.

...

Inside the bag is at least 10 blue crystals. Although blue mana stones are the most common and cheapest, it is still costly for someone poor, it costs 10 golds per stone.

Inventory.

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Golds:9850 

5/5

-Musket(Common)

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I take out a large bag of gold and knock on Jerry's cabin. An old lady answers the door and jolts up. "Y-Young master? W-Why are you here?"

...

I show her the bag of gold. 

She scratches her head in confusion and glances at me. 

Without further explaining, I step into the cabin and place the bag of gold inside the storage room. 

"It's payment," I say to the old lady and left.

"Young master?! What do you mean payment?!" she exclaims.